Table 1.
Study population characteristics, India, 1992–1993, 1998–1999, 2005–2006, 2015–2016. Ns unweighted; percentages, means, and infant mortality rates survey weighted.a
| NFHS-1 1992–1993 (N = 47,254) |
NFHS-2 1998–1999 (N = 44,840) |
NFHS-3 2005–2006 (N = 40,865) |
NFHS-4 2015–2016 (N = 205,545) |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infant mortality rate (Deaths per 1000 live births) | ||||
| All children | 70.4 | 63.2 | 53.4 | 36.7 |
| Male children only | 72.3 | 63.8 | 51.9 | 39.6 |
| Female children only | 68.3 | 62.6 | 55.0 | 33.5 |
| Characteristics (N (%)) | ||||
| Sibling Composition | ||||
| No living older siblings | 14,584 (30.5) | 13,897 (30.7) | 13,982 (32.5) | 80,355 (40.8) |
| 1 living older brother | 6421 (13.3) | 6305 (14.3) | 5960 (14.3) | 31,864 (16.0) |
| 1 living older sister | 6156 (13.1) | 6143 (13.8) | 6026 (14.2) | 32,974 (16.6) |
| 2 living older brother, no older sisters | 2911 (6.2) | 2587 (5.8) | 1957 (4.9) | 8174 (3.6) |
| 2 living older sisters, no older brothers | 3605 (7.5) | 3502 (7.7) | 3182 (7.9) | 16,727 (7.8) |
| Mix of older living brothers & sisters | 13,577 (29.3) | 12,406 (27.7) | 9758 (26.1) | 35,451 (15.1) |
| Mother characteristics | ||||
| Mother's age at birth (mean) | 23.2 | 22.9 | 23.4 | 23.8 |
| Mother's age at marriage (mean) | 16.5 | 16.7 | 16.3 | 18.4 |
| Mother's education | ||||
| None | 28,491 (65.7) | 24,184 (57.7) | 17,037 (51.0) | 66,249 (31.0) |
| Any primary | 11,344 (21.9) | 12,328 (26.1) | 12,098 (27.6) | 66,860 (31.9) |
| Some secondary, not completed | 4730 (8.0) | 5186 (10.1) | 6768 (13.2) | 38,109 (18.9) |
| Completed secondary or more | 2523 (4.4) | 3122 (6.1) | 4962 (8.2) | 34,327 (18.2) |
| Household characteristics | ||||
| Household structure | ||||
| Nuclear | 20,143 (40.9) | 20,035 (43.6) | 20,329 (48.8) | 88,918 (42.1) |
| Non-nuclear | 27,111 (59.1) | 24,805 (56.4) | 20,536 (51.2) | 116,627 (57.9) |
| Religion | ||||
| Hindu | 35,906 (79.5) | 33,212 (79.0) | 28,151 (78.1) | 148,237 (78.6) |
| Muslim | 6372 (15.4) | 6596 (15.9) | 6839 (17.2) | 32,509 (16.7) |
| Christian/ Other / No religion | 4976 (5.1) | 5032 (5.0) | 5875 (4.6) | 24,799 (4.8) |
| Scheduled tribe/scheduled caste | ||||
| No | 34,985 (77.2) | 29,516 (70.0) | 26,640 (69.5) | 124,306 (67.9) |
| Yes | 12,269 (22.8) | 14,901 (30.0) | 13,872 (30.5) | 79,908 (32.1) |
| Household wealth quintile | ||||
| Poorest | 8774 (22.5) | 8997 (24.3) | 7332 (25.6) | 54,750 (25.5) |
| Poorer | 8867 (22.0) | 8814 (22.4) | 7594 (22.5) | 48,584 (21.9) |
| Middle | 9651 (20.9) | 9288 (20.0) | 8480 (19.8) | 40,870 (19.7) |
| Richer | 10,778 (19.4) | 9699 (18.6) | 8933 (17.8) | 34,042 (18.2) |
| Richest | 9184 (15.2) | 8042 (14.7) | 8526 (14.3) | 27,299 (14.7) |
| Region | ||||
| North | 10,591 (11.7) | 10,532 (12.8) | 7346 (12.9) | 38,550 (13.2) |
| Central | 11,204 (29.6) | 9887 (29.5) | 9271 (29.8) | 59,411 (26.9) |
| East | 7870 (22.3) | 7743 (22.0) | 6443 (25.2) | 42,783 (25.5) |
| Northeast | 5337 (4.5) | 6288 (3.7) | 7591 (3.7) | 29,806 (3.6) |
| West | 4991 (13.2) | 4397 (13.1) | 4456 (12.6) | 14,495 (12.8) |
| South | 7261 (18.7) | 5993 (18.8) | 5758 (15.8) | 20,500 (18.1) |
| Urban residence | ||||
| Rural | 34,439 (77.3) | 33,297 (78.0) | 25,309 (74.4) | 156,574 (71.6) |
| Urban | 12,815 (22.7) | 11,543 (22.0) | 15,556 (25.6) | 48,971 (28.4) |
| Sibling-related characteristics | ||||
| Birth spacing | ||||
| Less than 2 years since previous birth | 9867 (20.6) | 9778 (21.8) | 7923 (20.2) | 35,310 (17.0) |
| 2 years or more since previous birth/1st born | 37,387 (79.4) | 35,062 (78.2) | 32,942 (79.8) | 170,235 (83.0) |
| Older sibling died prior to birth | ||||
| No | 37,194 (76.5) | 36,288 (79.9) | 34,605 (81.9) | 185,924 (90.8) |
| Yes | 10,060 (23.5) | 8552 (20.1) | 6260 (18.1) | 19,621 (9.2) |
| Healthcare factors: Available for most recent births only | ||||
| Most recent birth N | 28,678 | 27,926 | 26,647 | 139,463 |
| Received antenatal care visits | ||||
| None | 8481 (36.7) | 5812 (34.4) | 4976 (23.2) | 25,182 (17.0) |
| 1 to 3 | 8452 (35.0) | 6192 (35.8) | 9218 (39.0) | 47,374 (31.1) |
| 4 or more | 7717 (28.4) | 5631 (29.8) | 12,154 (37.8) | 65,492 (51.9) |
| Birth had skilled birth attendant | ||||
| No | 15,261 (64.9) | 10,051 (58.7) | 11,872 (51.6) | 28,187 (17.0) |
| Yes | 9324 (35.1) | 7639 (41.3) | 14,755 (48.4) | 111,194 (83.0) |
| Breastfeeding initiated within 1 h | ||||
| No | 19,509 (86.5) | 11,917 (76.9) | 12,883 (62.0) | 34,169 (28.4) |
| Yes | 3968 (13.5) | 4478 (23.1) | 11,442 (38.0) | 92,179 (71.6) |
a
Only non-missing values reported.